


Under Ashen Skies

by aqd



Series: Laviyuu Week 2018 [4]
Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Deities, Dorks in Love, Falling In Love, Islands, LaviYuu, Laviyuu Week 2018, M/M, One Shot, Solitude, Spirits, Thunder and Lightning, Thunderstorms, Volcanoes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 13:00:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14136555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aqd/pseuds/aqd
Summary: Lavi has barely time to wonder why his heart is beating so fast, before he loses it.His name is Kanda. Lavi's age, athletic and an impressive scowl. He doesn’t laugh about his stupid little jokes, he just examines him seriously. The sternest person Lavi has ever met.And also the most beautiful.





	Under Ashen Skies

**Author's Note:**

> Fourth day of the Laviyuu Week: Lightning | Darkness, Energy, Danger, Tension, Evanescent  
> laviyuu-week.tumblr.com/
> 
> trigger warnings: natural disaster, thunderstorms

Lavi Bookman’s heart breaks on a Tuesday. The red flags have been there, screamingly obvious, but he still missed them, probably because he didn’t want to see them.  
  
For example that his boyfriend stayed longer and longer at work has been one. Sometimes he hasn’t been home before eleven o’clock. Another one was his mocking of Lavi’s interests, right from the early beginning. _Nothing jumpstarts you like these disgusting critters_. _These disgusting critters_ have always been Lavi’s world. Insects, reptiles, amphibians. Not at all disgusting in his opinion.  
  
Lavi has never been one of the popular kids. He was always the weirdo, only one eye and all the time looking for little animals. While the other kids played tag, he crawled on his hands and knees through scrub and caught lizards, little snakes and frogs. His grandfather was irritated by his hobby in the beginning, but later he even gave him a terrarium for his tenth birthday, the best gift he ever received.  
  
He loves them. And he loves his study: Biology. When he wasn’t learning, he was out, wandering through forests, wading through shallow rivers, climbing over stones and rocks. He graduated with perfect scores and while his grandfather was very proud of him, his boyfriend didn’t really care that much. Another red flag.  
  
Lavi still loved him, or at least he thought so. Until he came home earlier one day, thanks to a persistent headache, and caught him in the act. In their bed, the bed Lavi snuggled up to him at night and kissed him in the morning.  
  
The fact that the other man looked mortified and honestly rueful, while his boyfriend just glowered at him, more annoyed than anything, was the coup de grâce for Lavi. He cried for nearly two weeks, now all alone in the bed they once shared, while his ex moved in the other man’s apartment after only a few days.  
  
The offer from one of his favourite professors was more than welcome, a lifeline in a storm made of heartache and disappointment. A doctoral position, including a year collecting data on one of Asia’s several volcano islands. Beautiful and deserted. Only him and the flora and fauna he loved so much.  
  
He moved out of the apartment reminding him so much of the ex, brought all his stuff into his grandfather’s attic and left Europe only a short time later.

 

It takes him only a few weeks to feel at home and get used to being alone most of the time. Every other week some locals visit him with their boat to deliver supplies and look after him, probably to make sure he didn’t fall into a crevice. They sometimes chat a little, but mostly they bring food and material for his studies, before they leave and he’s back at being alone. Most of the time it’s always the same young woman with different friends. Her name is Lenalee and her English isn’t very good, but not as bad as Lavi’s Chinese. They communicate with lots of gestures and using a mix of English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Lavi speaks a lot of languages, unfortunately most of them not very good. But they try.  
  
Lenalee is very ready to help and only laughs a little about him, because he can’t pronounce the name of the volcano, no matter how much he tries. Lots of syllables, way too many. She has mercy with him and suggests using a shortened name to make it a little easier. And so _Kanda-whatnot_ is born.  
  
Kanda-whatnot is a silent volcano and quite big. It rises up to the sky, bathing the island in shadow whenever sun hides behind it. The island, _Kanda-whatnot 2.0_ for Lavi, because it’s even harder to pronounce than the volcano, belongs to a nature reserve. Only scientists are allowed to life on it, just like Lavi at the moment. His cabin is surrounded by scrub and close to the beach.  
  
Lavi loves the island, he really does. It’s peaceful and silent, the only sounds the rushing of wind and ocean and a thunderstorm from time to time. He spends his days with examining the wildlife, searching for unknown species, collecting samples and analysing them, lovesickness fading bit by bit.

 

Another few weeks pass and Lavi’s heart slowly heals, until the poor thing takes another hit on a sunny Monday. Lenalee pays him a visit to deliver material for his research and today she has a friend with her.  
  
Lavi has barely time to wonder why his heart is beating so fast, before he loses it.  
  
His name is Kanda, not Kanda-whatnot, just Kanda. Lavi's age, athletic and an impressive scowl. He doesn’t laugh about his stupid little pet name for the volcano, he just examines him seriously. The sternest person Lavi has ever met.  
  
And also the most beautiful.  
  
It’s everything. It’s his long hair he wears in a messy bun, his dark eyes, bronzed skin, long lashes, his cheekbones. It’s the way the sea breeze plays with his shirt, slowly slipping down his shoulder.  
  
He’s drop-dead gorgeous and Lavi is a goner.  
  
Of course he stammers like the awkward dork he is and manages to knock the delivery note out of Kanda’s hand. He even has to run after it, because the wind nearly carries it into the sea. Lavi is embarrassed, Kanda thoroughly annoyed and Lenalee can’t stop laughing.

 

From now on Kanda accompanies Lenalee every time, sometimes he’s even alone, when she’s busy with her main job. He doesn’t speak English at all and so they communicate with a mix of Japanese, Chinese and to Lavi’s surprise French and even a little German. Kanda isn’t willing to reveal the source of his knowledge. Instead he just hands Lavi the delivery note, waits for him to sign it and ignores him deliberately when Lavi asks, if he wants to accompany him to his cabin and drink a cup of tea. Twice.

 

The ex is nearly forgotten. It’s all Mother Nature, a probably unknown frog species, sunshine and every other week Kanda, who seems to get even prettier every time Lavi has the pleasure to see him.

 

The incidents begin to occur in the same time or at least Lavi starts to notice them. It’s just weird situations here and there, not that worrisome, at least in the beginning.  
  
The first time is during one of Lavi’s night hikes. He’s armed with a flashlight and a butterfly net, ready to catch some moths and nocturnal reptiles. He wanders over uneven ground, the only other light sources the half moon and stars, and catches a tiny lizard, very cute in his opinion. He sits down on the ground and examines it in the shine of his flashlight, flinching when a moth flutters into his face.  
  
“Oh dear,” he sighs, but then he’s absorbed by the pretty little pattern on the lizard’s back. A known species, not even very rare, but Lavi doesn’t care. It’s all nice and easy, only him, Miss Lizard and a clingy moth, until he finally notice the sounds of steps. He jumps up, nearly dropping the lizard, turns around and uses his flashlight to examine his surroundings, but the steps vanish and he’s alone, aside plants and rocks. And a tiny lizard flouncing in his hand.

 

The second time is only a few days later, late at night. Lavi sits in his cabin and works on the introduction of his dissertation, scrolling through hundreds of papers on his laptop. From time to time he looks up and out of the window. The moon illuminates the sea, untypical gentle today. Lavi thinks about another night hike, business before pleasure, like Gramps taught him, when he spots movement.  
  
The silhouette of a human, slowly walking over rocks and stones, until they disappear behind scrub. Lavi is the only resident and there’s no reason for somebody to be here at night. He slowly gets up, hesitates for a moment, before he braces up and opens the window.  
  
“Hello?” he calls out, voice a little thin, but the night stays silent.

 

Incident number three occurs a week later. Lavi gets up, takes a quick shower, eats some chocolate muesli and leaves the little cabin to have a look at his insect trap. He put it out the evening before, because it’s more promising than his trusty butterfly net. Or at least it should be.  
  
The net is ripped apart, neatly in the middle, and there’s no insect to be seen. Lavi touches the broken net and wonders if a bat got entangled and destroyed it to get free, but then he spots the burn marks. The net is partly molten and Lavi has no idea what to think about it.

 

It keeps happening on a regular basis. Lavi is out at night and clearly hears step, before they disappear into thin air. Somebody sabotages his traps. He sees a shadow walking through scrubs and over rocks. Glimpses, just out of the corner of his eye.  
  
At first Lavi thinks like a scientist and is convinced they’re a poacher, but there’s no history of unauthorized hunting and Lenalee assures him that she never heard of anybody offering to sale wildlife caught on the island.  
  
The next idea is that he’s imagining stuff or one of the fluids he needs for his analyses is leaking, but he feels completely normal aside from these sightings from time to time and his professor doesn’t seem to notice anything whenever Lavi calls her with his sat phone. She criticizes his data, but like always in a kind way, probably to motivate him to work harder. If he would really lose his mind, she would notice something, wouldn’t she? He’s not disorganized, scatter-brained or anything, only a little jumpy.  
  
He even talks with Lenalee and Kanda about it, who look as surprised as he feels. They don’t think it’s one of the locals, because they’re the only ones coming to the little island on a regular basis, since Lenalee has a contract with his university to deliver supplies and materials for his study.  
  
Maybe it’s the seclusion, maybe sleep deprivation. He tries to sleep more and for a few days it seems to be a success, because he doesn’t see anything suspicious. Maybe he’s not as good as being alone as he thought.

 

It doesn’t stop.  
  
Lavi is on another night hike and when he comes home, the door to his cabin is wide open and the little terrarium on his desk empty, once inhabited by a small frog, unknown to Lavi and maybe to the rest of the world. Nothing is missing, aside from the amphibian, and Lavi doesn’t sleep the whole night, because he can’t lock the cabin, since it wasn’t necessary. At least until now.

 

He’s on edge for the whole next week, wishing for time to pass faster, because he seriously wants to talk with somebody. Kanda is a curmudgeon, but he seemed to understand the last time Lavi told him and Lenalee about it. It’s still a few more days until their next visit.

 

He keeps thinking about it, turning it over in his mind and pondering who has an issue with his study, until a heavy thunderstorm rages over the island and Lavi’s whole world gets out of joint.  
  
He’s sitting in his tiny cabin, certain wind will carry him away like little Dorothy and thinking about the poor wildlife. His ex would probably laugh, but he’s not here and Lavi promised to himself to stop thinking about him. He’s nervous enough right now, listening to the howling of the storm, but still curious. He always was, often too much for his grandfather, who had more than once the pleasure to run through the rain and grab him to keep him from being struck by lightning. Lavi always loved thunderstorms and he would probably be a meteorologist, hadn’t he lost his heart to reptiles and amphibians. And so he sits behind the window, hoping dearly the little cabin will withstand the storm, and watches lightning darting over the sky and down to the sea. It’s beautiful, flashes in the darkness, illuminating the island and the heavy sea.  
  
And a person.  
  
Lavi drops his cup, scattering shards and tea all over the ground, and jumps to his feet. A silhouette, all alone on the beach. They’re moving, slowed down by rain.  
  
“Who…” Lavi whispers, nervousness forgotten.  
  
He wasn’t only a curious child, he also was a thoughtless little boy, always jumping into adventures and causing his poor grandfather to turn grey. He toned down with the years, still loving a little adventure, but less risk-seeking. At least most of the times.  
  
But not today. He slips into his shoes, grabs a flashlight and then he storms out into the heavy rain, because maybe that’s the answer to the question who keeps sneaking around him at night and ruins his traps. But there’s more to it. It’s the strongest thunderstorm Lavi ever witnessed and the person is in danger, since lightning keeps striking rocks and scrubs. They’re in distress and as somebody, who only survived the car crash that killed his mother thanks to a young woman, who bashed the car window in and dragged him out of the burning vehicle, he has to help. Maybe it’s a form of karma. Only being alive because of the bravery of another human and trying to give it back to somebody as much in need as four-year-old Lavi. Despite his anger at the shenanigans.  
  
“Hey!” he calls, voice lost in the wind. “This way!”  
  
He’s not the most athletic person, rather a beanpole, but his memory is great, even with only one eye to scan his surroundings. He jumps over rocks and toppled bushes, only losing his balance once and cutting his knee on a sharp stone, but he’s immediately back on his feet.  
  
“This way!” he shouts again, louder this time, and the person stops and looks towards him, still too far away. “Come here!” He waves his flashlight and his arms and for a moment he thinks they’re coming towards him, but Mother Nature has other in mind.  
  
A lighting, forked and fear-inducing beautiful. It rages down, searching for something to strike, and – of all possibilities – choosing the person. Lavi screams in honest horror, probably loud enough to be heard even through thunder.  
  
They disappear in blinding light and Lavi falls down on his knees, covering his head with his hands and still screaming, because there’s no way they survived that. Thunder goes through his whole body, causing his lungs to vibrate in his chest. The storm is right above the little island and he’s in mortal danger, but he can’t move, because moving means he has to run back through the rain and leave them behind. They’re dead, aren’t they? They have to be dead. They’re not still alive and severely hurt, right? He has medical equipment, but not remotely enough to treat something like this, much less the knowledge.  
  
He slowly sits up, completely soaked by rain by now, and his heart throws itself against his ribcage, like it’s trying to break free and flee into the night. It’s pitch black, until another lightning flits over the sky and illuminates the little island.  
  
They’re still standing.  
  
“What…?” he whispers and screams, when another lightning hits them. And another, another, another. Lavi watches, light spots dancing over his eye whenever darkness enshrouds them, frozen in shock. A minute passes, which feels like hours, until the whole thunderstorm seems to discharge all at once, hundreds of thunderbolts hitting the sea and parts of the beach, followed by heavy silence. Rain and thunder, gone from one second to the other. It’s silent, aside from the soft rushing of the ocean and a breeze, and Lavi still sits on the hard ground, surrounded by darkness, besides a silvery glow on the beach.  
  
They look into his direction and then they come towards him, flashes jumping towards the ground. Lavi is paralysed, unable to move a muscle.  
  
For the first time he sees them up close, not only a glimpse or a shadow.  
  
“ _Kanda_?” he grits out.  
  
Long dark hair, even darker eyes, skin radiating moonlight and danger. Lightning burned his clothes, but not him. He stops in a distance of a few metres and just looks at Lavi, face unreadable and aloof. Flashes crackle in his hair, between his fingers.  
  
He doesn’t say a word, but there’s no doubt. It’s Kanda, drop-dead gorgeous and somehow still alive.  
  
Lavi’s flashlight, killed by rain, awakens with flickering and when he looks back, Kanda is gone.

 

Lavi doesn’t remember how he ended up in his bed, soaking wet, knee still bleeding and wearing shoes. He goes to the beach, terrified of what he will find, but there’s nothing.  
  
Aside from fulgurite, lots of it.

 

He even thinks about aborting everything and going back home to his beloved Europe. Lenalee appears only a few hours later, probably to look after him, and he has never been this happy to see another person.  
  
“Lenalee,” he calls out and she runs towards him and throws her arms around him. He probably looks as miserable as he feels, because she keeps patting his shoulders and even cups his cheeks.  
  
“Were you afraid?” she asks and hugs him a second time.  
  
“I…” he starts and falls silent, because he has no idea what he should say. “Is… Kanda with you?” he finally asks, because there’s no way that really happens. He’s probably hallucinating, he has to, because it _can’t_ be.  
  
Lenalee blinks in confusion at him, before she smiles. “Komui,” she corrects him and shakes her head. “My brother has to work.”  
  
“No, I don’t mean your brother,” Lavi answers. “Kanda. You know, your friend.”  
  
She looks at him, before she softly shakes her head. “Komui,” she says again. “My brother. Or maybe Bak?”  
  
Lavi knows Komui and Bak, Komui’s best friend, and feels as confused as Lenalee looks. “No… I… Kanda, you know who I mean,” he says unbelievingly and his heart sinks.  
  
“Lavi,” she says slowly. “I have no idea, who you’re talking about.”  
  
They stare at each other, the only sound the howling wind, and now he’s certain he lost his mind.

 

Lenalee offers to bring him to the mainland and asks him three times, if he hit his head, but he declines and goes back to his cabin. He just wants to lie down, sleep a little and wake up from this weird dream.  
  
But somebody has other in mind.  
  
Kanda sits on his bed, when Lavi opens the door and his scream probably scares away all wildlife in a proximity of a mile.  
  
But Kanda doesn’t even flinch. He gets up and Lavi notices haphazardly that he’s wearing the same clothes as yesterday, but without being burned in the slightest. Kanda steps closer and Lavi doesn’t realize he’s backing away until he hits the wall, suddenly trapped. Kanda stops in front of him, face unreadable, flashes darting over his skin and loose hair moving, although there’s no wind.  
  
“No more traps,” he says and Lavi somehow understands him, though he never heard this language before.  
  
“What?” he grits out and stares at him.  
  
“No more traps,” he repeats sharper than before and thunder rolls over the island. “I said no more traps.”  
  
Lavi trembles like a leaf, certain this is his last day on earth. “Okay,” he croaks and Kanda stares at him for another moment, before he nods.  
  
“Good,” he says and vanishes into thin air, when Lavi blinks.  
  
He has lost his mind.

 

From now on Kanda appears from time to time, often without saying anything. He watches Lavi doing his work, probably to make sure he keeps his word.  
  
He looks different than before. Still ridiculous beautiful, but now there’s an unearthly touch. It’s his moving hair, the way his skin has a soft golden glow in the sunlight, flashes of lightning in his hair and between his fingers.  
  
He comes and goes like the wind and sometimes days pass without another visit and on other days he appears several times.

 

Lavi stops putting up traps and catching wildlife. Instead he’s armed with his camera and takes hundreds of photos. The anger in Kanda’s eyes disappears slowly and Lavi is less on edge than before. A month passes and then another and somehow he gets used to him and to his own surprise fear ceases.  
  
Probably because he witnesses Kanda more than once gently handling the wildlife. He walks into the water and fishes swim into his hands to be freed of plastic waste wrapped around their tail fins. Garbage wanders over the see, probably dumped by boats. On a particular windy day a huge batch reaches the small island and there’s honest hurt in Kanda’s eyes, an unbearable sight.  
  
Lavi gets a garbage bag and then he’s collecting trash for days.  
  
And the way Kanda looks at him changes.

 

They life in peaceful coexistence. Kanda takes care of his island and Lavi starts taking samples and catching wildlife from time to time, always releasing them after taking photos, tolerated by Kanda.  
  
“Why doesn’t Lenalee remember you?” Lavi asks one day. He sits on the ground and watches a small lizard sunbathing on one of the rocks. Kanda is crouched down a few metres away and has a seabird in his hands. It has a piece of plastic around his neck and Kanda carefully removes it.  
  
“Because I don’t want her to,” he answers simply and after finally pulling the last piece of plastic off, he sets the bird down on the ground. It doesn’t leave, instead it stretches its wings, before jumping on his knee. Kanda sits down and the bird rests. “Why do you catch the wildlife?”  
  
“Because I study them,” Lavi replies and looks at him. “You aren’t a human, are you?”  
  
“I guess you can say that,” Kanda says and vanishes with a soft breeze. The bird sits another moment on the ground, before it flies off.

 

Weeks pass. Lavi works on his dissertation and his analyses and talks with his professor on a regular basis. She’s fond of his work and Lavi is as motivated as he wasn’t since his graduation.  
  
He also takes better care of the island and even starts walking barefoot to be easier on plants and insects. He collects trash whenever he spots some and tries to use less electricity and water.  
  
Kanda appears more often, bathing in sun or moonlight and – whenever he has the opportunity – in lightning. There are more storms in this season and Lavi spends the nights sitting in front of the window and watching him wandering through heavy rain.  
  
And sometimes Kanda brings him a gift.  
  
Lavi wakes up one morning to blinding sunlight and an annoyed ribbit. He listens confusedly for another moment, before he gets up and opens the door.  
  
A frog sits on his doorstep. Tiny and completely unknown to Lavi. It ribbits another time and then it jumps past him into his cabin.

 

Lavi tries to bring Kanda gifts, too, but he doesn’t want most of them. Except tea.  
  
Their fingers touch and a flash darts over Lavi’s arm, when he hands him the cup and then he has the pleasure to watch Kanda taking a sip and closing his eyes with a soft sigh.

 

Sometimes Kanda mimes the human Lavi lost his heart to. He ties his hair up and flashes disappear, but there’s still grace in his steps, the sea obediently calming down when he steps closer, wildlife showing themselves and pooling around his feet.  
  
Lenalee suddenly remembers him and Lavi talks to the two of them, until it’s time to go home. Kanda wants to live for a few days as a human, at least Lavi thinks so, and so he spends a week without him, surprised how much he misses him.

 

Some nights Lavi sits at his desk or lies on his bed and the door swings open soundlessly. The first time it nearly gave him a heart attack, but now he just gets up and prepares some tea. Kanda is announced by a small lizard curiously poking its head into the cabin, before it disappears back into the darkness.  
  
Kanda’s steps are soft, his feet barely touch the ground, and he sits down on the wooden flooring. They drink a few cups of tea in silence and Lavi tries not to blatantly stare, but without much success. Kanda notices, but he doesn’t seem to mind.  
  
“You’re beautiful,” Lavi says out loud after thinking it for months and is immediately embarrassed, because Kanda’s eyes set on him and stop traveling. A colourful moth flies through the open window and lands on his knee, slowly stretching its wings. He takes it on his hand and watches it climbing over his fingers, until it flies off and back into the darkness, before he looks at Lavi, something knowing in his eyes.  
  
_Not remotely as much as my island_.

 

Kanda seems to be fascinated by him, especially his devices and detailed drawings of botany and wildlife, but also by his red hair and his freckles. Sometimes he reaches out and his fingertips touch Lavi, sending little sparks through his body and sunshine on his cheeks.

 

The volcano is silent and so is Kanda, at least most of the times. Sometimes thunder rolls over the sea and he awakens. Lavi watches him from the safety of his cabin walking out into the storm, bathing in rain and lightning, hair flying wildly and hands stretched towards the sky.  
  
The volcano softly sighs in the distance and white sparks of energy jump from Kanda down to the ground, melting sand and breaking stones apart. Flashes dart through his hair and over his skin, even after the storm ceases and the night is as silent as before. Moths fly around him, bathing in light, and scales slide over the uneven ground. Hundreds of eyes glint in the darkness, like a sea of stars.  
  
It’s after one of these storms that Kanda steps closer until there’s no more room in between them. The sparks don’t sting, to Lavi’s surprise, but his hair still crackles, when Kanda smooths a hand over the back of his head.  
  
“Close your eyes,” he says and the volcano sighs. Lavi does and for the first time they kiss.

 

“Sometimes a deity falls in love with a human,” Lenalee says one day, explaining the local mythology and one of the several holidays coming up. She sits next to Lavi on the beach and they watch the ocean, untypical calm today. Lavi thinks haphazardly about Kanda, who lay on the ground of his cabin this morning, not disturbed by a tiny bird searching for nesting material in his hair.  
  
“And then?” Lavi asks and she smiles at him.  
  
“And then they have to make a decision.”

 

Lavi’s professor is worried, because of how unsteady he sends his data in the last few weeks. He explains it away and promises he will work harder, but that doesn’t stop his instruments from gathering dust.  
  
He spends his days outside with Kanda, who shows him his island, places Lavi hasn’t seen before. A beautiful cave, a waterfall, a source of water somewhere at the bottom of the volcano, a new piece of land, born after the last eruption about sixty years ago.  
  
Lavi spots reptiles, amphibians, birds and insects he never saw before, but his camera lies forgotten on his desk.  
  
He starts to tell Kanda about his life. Childhood, the accident, school days, university, heartbreak. He listens in silence and the only answers are his soft fingertips on Lavi’s skin.

 

The volcano sighs from time to time and so does Kanda, whenever Lavi has his hands in his long hair, traces his cheek and collarbones, kisses his forehead and eyelids. He vanishes less often, sometimes he stays for days. Lavi falls asleep and wakes up next to him, dreaming of thunder and lightning.  
  
Sometimes they lay down under the stars and Lavi is enshrouded by warmth and the crackling of electricity. Sometimes they go swimming in the ocean and Kanda disappears for several minutes, until he surfaces with a colourful fish in his hands to show it to Lavi, who’s enchanted. Kanda understands his love for the wildlife and he doesn’t mock him. Sometimes they hike up the volcano and Kanda leads the way, navigating easily around crevices and loose stones. They reach the peak much faster than Lavi ever managed to on one of his hikes alone. They step right up the edge of the volcanic crater, something Lavi would never dare alone. But Kanda has an arm around him and so they look down, Kanda’s naked toes and the toecaps of Lavi’s hiking boots hovering over the edge.  
  
“Is it going to stay silent?” Lavi asks and looks at Kanda. A soft breeze moves their hair and clothes. Kanda doesn’t answer. Instead he kisses him.

 

A month passes, as peaceful as the weeks before, and Lavi lies in a silent night in Kanda’s arms, lulled to sleep by the sound of wind, until the jars on the shelves start to chink, his books fall down and he startles up.  
  
“An earthquake!” he calls out and wants to jump out of bed, without knowing what to do, but Kanda has an arm around his waist and doesn’t let go.  
  
“Lavi,” he says without opening his eyes. “It’s okay.”  
  
“But-” Lavi starts and Kanda interrupts him.  
  
“Shh,” he says and now he examines him. “There’s no reason to be scared.” He let’s go of him to cup his cheek and Lavi looks at him wide-eyed.  
  
“Yes?” he asks and flinches, when one of the jars falls down and bursts on the wooden ground.  
  
Kanda nods. “Yes. You don’t have to be scared on this island, no matter what happens. Okay?” he asks and kisses him.  
  
“Okay,” Lavi whispers into the kiss and closes his eye. The earthquake ceases and the volcano sighs silently.

 

A few more earthquakes hit the island in the next few days and Lavi tries to stay calm, because Kanda isn’t worried at all.  
  
He looks even more supernal. Skin radiating golden in the sunlight and silver in the moonlight. Flora and fauna awaken whenever he’s close. Roots crawl over the uneven ground, reptiles rest on his feet, birds land on his shoulders, moths dance around him. The island is lush and lively and Lavi collects samples and data, spotting unknown species and listening to the song of the wind.  
  
He tries to stay calm, even when his professor calls him late at night and there’s ash on his window sill.  
  
The volcano threatens to erupt and under different circumstances Lavi would be terrified, because thick clouds of ash make it impossible for boats to navigate. Lenalee calls him on his sat phone and is in tears, because there’s no way they can get him from the island, but Lavi calms her down. She’s clearly surprised by his optimism, but he knows there’s no danger.

 

Even if he’s sure he’s going to survive the eruption that doesn’t mean it’s not angst-inducing. Thick clouds hide sky and sun and the wildlife falls silent. A dirty thunderstorm, the brightest lightning and loudest thunder he has ever witnessed.  
  
_Curiosity killed the cat_ , they say, and Lavi knows it’s probably suicide, but the wind brushing over his cheeks feels like Kanda’s soft breath and the drops of rain like his warm fingertips. Lavi slips into his shoes and walks out into the rain.  
  
The wind is strong enough to blow ash and smoke away, air still smelling like fire but not anymore burning in his throat. Kanda is nowhere to be seen, but Lavi has an idea where to find him and walks over uneven ground, soon covered in grey, ash mixed with rain.  
  
Thunder gets louder and louder, lightning brighter and brighter. Lavi hikes all the way to the hill on the other side of the island, not very high, but high enough to watch the volcanic crater through his spyglass.  
  
Kanda bathes in lightning and thunder, the center of the storm, and he seems to feel Lavi’s gaze, because he turns around and smiles at him, nearly hidden by sparks and flashes. Lavi raises his hand and waves, heart a little lighter, and Kanda doesn’t return his gesture, but he’s still looking at him, peacefulness in a raging storm on the edge of the glowing crater.  
  
And then he jumps into the burning abyss and the volcano erupts, spewing stones and lava down on the island, landing everywhere but the hill Lavi stands on. He drops his spyglass nonetheless and goes down on his knees, hands clasped over his head and honest shock in his veins.  
  
He spends the next few hours on the hill, rain ceasing and ash sinking down on him, hiding the island. Red-hot lava wanders down the volcano and into the sea. A new part of the island gets born, right in front of Lavi, who doesn’t care, because Kanda disappeared into fire. He’s gone, hopefully not forever, and Lavi’s heart aches and he wonders, how he’s supposed to spend the rest of his life without him.

 

He doesn’t have to.  
  
The volcano falls asleep hours later and there’s still thick smoke in the sky, absorbing blue and sunshine, but no more earthquakes and lava. It cools down, still radiating heat but not anymore running down and burning everything touching it.  
  
The plants, rocks and wildlife are hidden under a thick layer of ash, just like Lavi, who lost his entire colour on the hill, aside from the green of his eye.  
  
“Kanda?” he calls out, wading through grey and ash scratching in his throat. “Kanda? Are you okay?”  
  
He hears a sound and he turns around quickly, nearly stumbling over a rock.  
  
Kanda gets reborn in ash. He frees himself out of a pile Lavi walked by, naked and effete, coughing and gasping for air. Lavi runs towards him, relieved like he wasn’t in years.  
  
“Kanda, oh thanks god,” he whispers and wraps an arm around him to help him up. The first thing he notices is that he feels lighter and thinner, thing number two that his long hair is gone. His dark eyes are watering, probably due of ash and exhaustion, and he can’t stop coughing. “What are you doing out here?”  
  
“I-” he tries to say, but he’s back at coughing, tears running over his cheeks and washing away ash.  
  
“Don’t worry,” Lavi says and pulls him on his back. “Everything is going to be okay,” he adds and then he carries him all the way back to his cabin, scattering ash on the wooden flooring and his belongings.  
  
Both of them drink several glasses of water and afterwards they sit on the ground of Lavi’s small shower. Kanda leans exhausted against him and Lavi washes both of them, until there’s no more grey in the water.  
  
His eyes are still irritated and reddened, but at least he’s not coughing anymore. Lavi smooths a hand over his head, noticing the feeling of dark stubbles under his fingers. “Kanda, was happened?” he asks.  
  
“I made a decision,” he answers serenely and closes his eyes. “Why do I feel so weak?”  
  
“Maybe you’re tired?” Lavi gets up and pulls him on his feet, before wrapping an arm around him to keep him from falling. “Do you want to sleep?”  
  
“But I already do,” Kanda answers and looks out of the window and towards the volcano.

 

Kanda needs some time to get used to his new life. To sleeping, eating and being careful around fire. He burns himself more than once and Lavi insists on binding his fingers up, although Kanda doesn’t really care. He’s more fascinated by the wound, just like he’s fascinated by the drop of blood crawling over his finger, when he cuts himself accidently for the first time a few days later.

 

He completely vanished out of Lenalee’s memory and Lavi has to introduce the two of them.  
  
“Kanda?” she asks. “Like the volcano?”  
  
“Yeah, but not Kanda-whatnot,” he answers and Lavi starts to laugh.

 

His professor gladly accepts his request to prolong his stay, since somebody has to study the new part of the island, still unstable and deserted. She’s surprised when he asks for a contract for a local willing to support his studies.  
  
“Kanda Yuu?” she asks. “Yuu, like the water source at the bottom of the volcano?”  
  
“Exactly,” he answers and smiles, when Kanda, no, Yuu steps behind him and wraps his arms around his waist. He lays a hand on Lavi’s chin and gently turns his head and Lavi forgets the world and everybody in it.  
  
Except for Kanda Yuu, a simple human.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> This was fun to write. Lavi as a dorky biologist is just too cute.  
> See you tomorrow for day 5!


End file.
